Multi-purpose rakes are well-known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,317,916 granted to Kallal on Apr. 27, 1943 relates to a combined rake and hoe having a plurality of teeth projecting from one edge of the rake and a sharpened hoe edge extending along an opposite edge of the rake. While the Kallal rake is useful as a garden tool, it is not specifically adapted for grooming playing fields. In particular, the rake teeth, which are all of equal length, are relatively long and prone to bending at their tips if used to score hard clay playing field surfaces.
Conventional playing field grooming rakes currently in use are typically constructed from light weight metals such as aluminum. Aluminum rakes are not rigid enough for effective scarifying of hard clay soils. Since such rakes tend to deform over time, they are also ineffective as a tamping tool (once deformed, only a small portion of the surface area of the rake contacts the ground with each tamping blow).
The need has therefore arisen for a grooming rake which is specifically designed for maintenance of a variety of playing field surfaces.